Powdery mildew is one of the most annoying problems that you can face. Nothing is worse than looking forward to a nice vegetable to find that you’ve had it damaged by powdery mildew. So here are some tips on how to avoid it on your squash.
Tips for Preventing Powdery Mildew on Squash
- Plant Verities that are Resistant – There are many varieties of winter and summer squashes that are powdery mildew resistant. Look for ones that are marked “PMR” meaning they’re resistant to it.
- Be Careful About Seed Spacing – It’s easy for powdery mildew to spread between plants and leaves. When you space plants so they have the right air circulation, it’s going to reduce the spread of powdery mildew and increase the light to leaves.
- Plant it in Complete Sun – When the squash is in the shade, it will increase the germination of spores.
- Don’t Overfertilize Your Plants – This will overstimulate the new growths, and these are what get infected very easily.
- Use Water to Spray Your Plants – Unlike the majority of fungal diseases, this will spread a lot more quickly in weather that is hot and dry. Spraying your plants with your hose or overhead watering can help with minimizing the disease deployment. Make sure that you are watering them during the morning so that their leaves are dry before nighttime. This is going to avoid other kinds of diseases from infecting your plants.
- Rotate Your Crops – Since spores from powdery mildew are able to survive through the winter in your soil, you want to rotate the location of your squash on a rotation schedule of 3-4 years.
These are some of the things that you can do to help with preventing powdery mildew on your squash. They aren’t going to completely stop it from happening, but they will reduce your chances of having the problem.
We hope that you found this to be useful and that you will continue to read our posts. If you have any problems with your garden or your lawn, contact us and we’ll be glad to give you a quote.
